Cables for connecting a powered, typically electronic, device to a power source are well known. Because cables must conform to industry or technical standards to function properly, most cables are similarly designed. Such cables typically have a molded end from which an electrical connector extends. A strain relief is provided between the cable and the molded end to permit bending of the cable with respect to the molded end without damaging the wires therein. Typically, the molded end is formed from polyvinyl chlorine (PVC) molded into a desired shape.
A common design drawback of commercially available cable connectors is that conventional molds and strain reliefs are too large, bulky, and inflexible to permit the powered device to which the cable is connected to be closely positioned adjacent another object, such as a wall or another device. Such difficulties are particularly common with computer equipment. In particular, an ever increasing number of peripheral devices, such as scanners, printers, and external drivers, are being connected to computers. Thus, there is a corresponding ever increasing desire to save space and place the devices as close as possible to each other or another object, such as a wall. In addition to occupying more space, larger mold sizes commonly provided on cable connectors increase the difficulty with which an external modem or printer may be connected side by side with a mouse or other device on the same adapter card on the back of the computer.
One space saving improvement in the art of cable connector design has been the formation of connectors with right or left angled molded ends. Such molded ends are formed to maintain the cable wire extending therefrom at an angle with respect to the connector to automatically and securely direct the cable in a particular direction. However, the shape of such angled molds typically is preset and unchangeable. In the molded connector end with a cable directing tube of U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,629 to Yoshimura, although the molded end maintains the cable at a desired angle, the orientation of the cable is not readily adjusted. Accordingly, the user must know the appropriate angle direction to select and use for a given environment. If the spatial arrangement of the devices changes, a differently oriented cable connector may become necessary. Moreover, such angled molded ends are generally only available for parallel printer connectors but not for computer connectors and therefore typically do not reduce the space behind the computer itself.
Some prior art cables have partially addressed the above disadvantages by increasing the number of fixed-angles at which the cable may be maintained, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,943 to Reimer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,780 to Bertini et al. However, the benefits of these cables are limited by the limited number of preset angles in which the cable may be directed and maintained. Given the ever-increasing number of peripherals being connected to computers, such "angle-limiting" connectors do not afford the user sufficient freedom to place the peripherals at close proximity and in any angle or direction from the computer. Such connectors also limit the cable orientation only at the connector end and do not permit the maintenance of a desired orientation of the cable at other locations along the cable.
Furthermore, molded cable ends in the prior art generally embody a single housing assembly which both shields the wires connected to the electrical terminal and also performs the cable angling function. Since the molded ends either shield the entire portion of the cable that is being bent within the housing, or bend the cable around the housing, such cable-orienting molded ends are large and bulky. Consequently, such molded ends further limit the proximity with which a computer or peripheral device to which a cable with such a molded end may be positioned adjacent another object, such as a wall or another device.